According to court records, Bass was spending large amounts of money gambling on sporting events and devised a scheme in November 1995 to pay for the endeavors. At the time, Bass was president of the Wheeler Banking Center. a branch of the Wheeler State Bank in Wellington.

Bass allegedly created more than 40 loans involving at least 20 fictitious customers and three actual bank customers. Over the course of the scheme, Bass created about $459,000 in fraudulent loans. Most of the loans, approximately $395,000, were used to pay gambling-related activities, records show.

Court records said on July 29, 1997, Bass created a fictitious $20,000 cattle loan, which purportedly was secured by cattle. Bass obtained the loan proceeds by having five cashier's checks made out to several individuals. He then forged the checks and cashed them at different locations

In another case, Vinyard, a former employee of First Bank and Trust of Shamrock, pleaded guilty to bank fraud in an embezzlement scheme that netted more than $309,000.

According to federal court records:

Vinyard, an assistant cashier at First Bank and Trust of Shamrock, devised a scheme between Oct. 20, 1989 until May 7, 1997, to defraud the bank by taking funds under fraudulent pretenses.

Vinyard would create loan documents in the names of other people without their knowledge or consent and forge loan documents in their names. She allegedly then would move money from the bank's general funds into her personal accounts.

In order to perpetuate the scheme and avoid detection, Vinyard would make principal and interest payments on some loans when they became due and provide false addresses so the unwitting borrowers would not receive correspondence from the bank.

Bass and Vinyard each face a possible 30-year prison term, a $1 million fine and five years of supervised release.